


The Wolf Comes out at Night

by ObtuseOctopus



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Bad Wolf, Big Bad Wolf - Freeform, Crime Scenes, F/F, Fables - Freeform, Gen, Investigation, Little Mermaid Elements, Murder Mystery, Wolf Among Us, Wolf Instincts, murder investigation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22054636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObtuseOctopus/pseuds/ObtuseOctopus
Summary: • COMPLETE. One shot. AU inspired by the Wolf Among Us/Fables. •Jasper Wolf, sheriff in town, is dispatched onto a crime scene. But, odd enough? There doesn’t seem to be much clues... Until comes around a mermaid.
Relationships: Jasper/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe)
Kudos: 11





	The Wolf Comes out at Night

A hundred times greater than a human’s nose, keen with the primal instinct to chase and hunt, a wolf is able to detect things that people could not. Social animals, wolves depend on packs and teamwork for survival, working together to pursue and tear prey, unless sent to live on their own. Lone wolves are used as the term to apply to those who choose to be alone as compared to surrounded by many, someone who takes care of themselves and their own problems, excluded from the pack. The pack of today is the global society, and those who don’t fit into the pieces of the puzzle are doomed to be the wolves of solitude. In this outcasted posse, there are various groups from all kinds of history and personalities, from the dark and edgy, to the bloodthirsty and terrible. But, also among this generalization, lies the sins of humanity laced as cautious fairy tales, deeds and warnings to pass down from generation to generation.

The big bad wolf is a popular fable, telling the tale of a young girl adorned in all red who goes to her grandmother’s house, only to encounter a beast of claws and teeth who wanted to consume her. The wolf disguises itself as the grandmother of this poor girl, and the woodsman arrives to slice open the beast and free the girl inside who had been gobbled up whole. The wolf was the villain, and the killer at that. It was as tall as the fabled Amarok, covered head to toe in long locks of fur that clumped together like moss and eyes of a burning fire. With teeth sharp enough to slice a conversation dead, the tale haunted many for eons, and all ended with the same fate with each retelling- the wolf gets killed or beaten, defeated and humiliated. Humans make up silly tales to keep their Mundy lives from getting too plain and boring, devoid of any excitement or entertainment. The tale of the big bad wolf was just another of their amusing tales, meant to be nothing but a story and a fictional one at that. The problem was however, was that it wasn’t.

Jasper Wolf had been born to a litter of six, consisting of her and her five sisters; Amethyst Wolf, Skinny Wolf, Carnelian Wolf, Snow Wolf, and Biggs Wolf. They had been born to a gentle wolf who they had referred to as simply Mother, as they had never discovered her name before she had died from heartbreak. And as for the father? A powerful lord of the winters, capable of winds stronger than any force of nature, the North Wind. He had been wooed by their mother, and found her to be the most beautiful creature alive. He had taken the form of a large and powerful gray wolf to court her, and Jasper and her sisters were the end result of the shambled relationship. Her sisters decided to go stay with their father and live beneath his castle chasing all the rats to their heart's content and stay under a roof at the least, but Jasper personally blamed the North Wind for causing the death of their mother. Jasper had even attempted to kill him seven times each on a new day for a week, seven days of bloodshed and seven days of failure. The North Wind said she was too weak. Too puny. Too small.

So when she came across a small icy water puddle to drink from one fateful night when her throat was dry after a day of terrorizing and after losing a battle that would be documented as famous, Jasper had taken a sip from the magic infested liquid of destiny, of doom, of horror. Her father had intended for her to become thirsty enough to drink from the lowborn formations of the most measly of puddles, and with it came a curse; she would be stuck in the form of a Mundy, a natural glamour, to live in the body of one of the most weakest creatures ever in the eyes of the most vain Fables. She would only be able to revert back into her true form of a mighty canine if her emotions allowed her so thanks to being slit by a knife cursed with lycanthropy in a last encounter with a poor victim in her monstrous days, but often she would only get as far as a horrid monster caught in the midst of both human and wolf, an atrocity who was ensnared in the ropes of confusion.

She blamed her father even more for this unfortunate event. She couldn’t run wild nor free anymore, lacking the paws and the size to roam the snowy forests to spread her regime. She couldn’t hunt the way she used to, or patronize her father any longer. Stuck in a measly form lacking any weapons or power, she only grew frustrated, mad.

Jasper had found herself retreated to the outskirts of the fabled lands, more towards the lands of the Mundies, where they gossiped like birds in a wire and drove inside small vehicles to get where they needed to go. Their cities were full of smog from factories and cigarettes, perfect to help keep her nose at ease and be able to withstand the scent of everything that would be overwhelming her nostrils on a daily norm. Their food wasn’t that great, but also came with the most unexpected of sweets. Their streets were often littered with trash, and the rats were often fed by their poisons, the city was a system of its own. Not to mention the closest retreat, as well as a place where other Fables who bore glamours chose to reside. She wouldn’t be lonely, not that she would have chosen friends to stay with anyway.

Yet her dreams of avenging her mother still were on the top of her mind so come every night. She would envy the feeling of wanting to pummel the Wind into the ground, to crush him to nothingness. It baffled her with how her siblings were on good terms with their sire, and yet here was she.

But she wouldn’t stoop to their level.

She was the one who had starred in the fable of the big bad wolf itself, who had been beaten by the damned woodsman, and she would not bow before any kind of evil. She was the one who would judge who’d be sitting on the throne that she would kneel to, and it most certainly was not her father. She would become strong, she would prove that she was not some kind of weakling.

Though that will take some time.

As for now, however, she had stayed in the city for a hundred years, immortal as she struggled trying to rise back up to power. She had stayed in the shadows and had mingled among Mundy to come by a scrap of every meal, and she had risen to gain a job as a Fabletown sheriff to become powerful against every enemy she faced, let it be the Jersey Devil or the Wendigo. With her nose, she smelled out every victim and criminal, and with her hearing, she heard the frantic heartbeat of a liar.

So was fate, dooming her to this life. But she regretted none. She would become mighty again, and she would become the wolf she once was to face her father once and for all.

Even if a majority of the Fables already feared her, she would not rest until then.

Taking one last whiff of the spiraling smoke that exhaled from her cigarette, her nostrils flared before closing. Jasper stood on the corner of a street near a lit lamp pole, gnats and moths attacking the light in harmless smacks of their bodies like dumb ducks.

It had been approximately ten minutes by now, and still she had to wait for the others on the scene to finish up their due business before she could go into the bar and see what had happened. Having been dispatched onto the scene with details such as a murder and a gruesome sight, already she could smell the blood. It was why she was smoking as she waited to be let in, to mask the hungry scent from her gaping jaws and flexing claws. She knew why she wasn’t allowed in just yet- they still feared her. They still fretted if she would make an even bigger mess of a crime scene like a wolf at dinner time in a field of feeble little lambs. They were amateurs. What kind of department wouldn’t trust the very sheriff that they had let into office?

About two more minutes in, and finally one of the department emerged out of the bar, starting to set up perimeter outside for any innocent standby to avoid. Nobody needed to see this, except now for the sheriff.

Jasper gave an expectant look as she dropped her cigarette and crushed it under her boot to extinguish it. “Ahem.” Jasper was growing impatient. Should her metaphorical tail be wagging, it was to see if her patience paid off. 

The other looked up at her. “Oh- god. I forgot you’re there. Go on in and make haste,” the officer beckoned as she messed with the yellow tape. Jasper recognized her to be from the tale of the Magic Swan Geese, judging by the faint scent of apple and milk on her, as well as rye and pie. Though slightly difficult from her recent smoke, the smell was still there, past the smoke and haze. The nose of a wolf could never lie nor overlook. And it definitely could tell no lies, especially the ones that eyes overlooked.

Jasper nonetheless ignored the nervousness in the other Fable. She went ahead and trekked into the bar after pushing past the Magic Swan Geese protagonist. She held no fear, no sign of any vendetta just yet. She came here to check out the place, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She hitched her breath, preparing her nose for what could be the most deadly of scents; freshly spilled blood still ripe and scarlet red.

She paced around the bar some once she had gone inside, ignoring the blare of sirens outside and the glare of their red and blue lights. She was by now too familiar with the sights and sounds that accompanied her journeys. She was more focused on her work here, wanting to get this task over with and solved easily without any delay. 

There was a multitude of scents around her; mainly of old beer, leather seats, carpet cleaner, stained alcohol, the iron of blood, and something… ocean. Salty, sexy, wild, wet and free. Jasper didn’t expect that one. She sniffed some more, getting a deeper whiff though it may be too much for her to handle when came the long run.

“And... who are you?” A rather deadpan voice caught Jasper off guard. It was the owner of the strange scent, the one who smelled like the beach on a stormy day. Jasper turned, her amber eyes settling upon a maid in blue who sat at the bar, on the counter with her hands upon the glassy surface. She had medium-length dark blue hair that was near black, pale skin, and dark eyes to match her hair. She stared at Jasper, not having much of a care in the world based off of her facial expression. She wore a rather slim and body-tight blue dress to go with her blues theme, a blue ribbon to top it off around her neck.

Jasper let out a hefty scoff, the way a dog would sigh when it was content. “Sheriff Wolf,” she introduced herself simply.

“Wolf?” The woman warmly smiled. “The… big bad wolf?”

“One and only.”

“What are you doing here,  _ sheriff _ ?”

“I was dispatched here. I got reports of a murder taking place here. Do you know anything about that?”

The girl shook her head. “Not at all. I was about to go on shift… then, I heard someone scream. I wasn’t there to see it.”

Jasper frowned. “Then why are you still here?”

“To see if I’m still getting paid,” the girl answered. “I’m technically still on shift.” She slipped off the counter, and gradually made her way over to Jasper. “My name’s Lapis. Lapis Lazuli.” She placed a hand on the taller being’s chest. Now Jasper could smell her even better, her scent… enticing, the way a magnet pulled.

“A gemstone name too, huh?” Jasper moved away, knowing that what she was doing was just another seductive stripper trick.

“Yeah. And lazuli gemstones are known for being near water… Egyptian wear, that thing.” Lapis rolled her eyes, her hand returning to her side.

Jasper refused to give up her tough barrier. She kept her voice firm. “You’re the Little Mermaid, aren't you?”

Lapis nodded. “I traded my tail for legs,” she began to explain. “But…” she gave a somber look, “as it turned out, who I loved fell for a trick instead of me. A sea witch. Now, here I am.”

“Rough luck,” Jasper commented. “So is that your natural glamour?”

“Yeah. I can’t turn back into who I used to be.”

“What about the sea foam part in the story?”

“I escaped it. Thanks to my boss.”

“Your boss?”

“He saved me. He keeps me this way.”

“What do you mean?”

Lapis opened her mouth to speak, then shut her lips. She glanced down, refusing to make eye contact. “These lips are sealed,” she monotoned.

Jasper gave a dumbfounded stare. But, she eventually returned to investigating the scene, letting Lapis walk away. Her nose led her towards the exact spot of the murder, a sheet over the body and anything that could be considered clues already bagged up and stored safely to preserve them. She knelt down to get a closer examination of the body, peeling back the layer over it and revealing the horrifying sight; a girl unknown whose scent was long gone replaced by the staleness of death, her eyes wide with shock and her mouth gaped. She had been beheaded, cleanly, a bloodied trail from her neck to where her head used to attach. There was no visible sign of any clues, just what remained after having been searched before by the investigators. 

Jasper checked over the crime scene again, then a third time, letting her nose become enveloped in the many scents around her in case she had missed something. … But, oddly enough? She didn’t. There was nothing much to investigate, just the sight of the deceased. Jasper grumbled, finding that being dispatched here was just a waste of her time. The investigators already did their work, and they seemed to do it too good, so why did she need to come look too? There was nothing here, was there?

Jasper forced her nostrils to close as she slicked her hair back with one hand, taking one last look before she put the sheet back over the body. There was no time for any prayer or farewell, the body cold and the spirit long gone if she even believed in that stuff in the first place. Having done her part, she got up, and checked around the proximity just to be sure she didn’t miss anything.

When Jasper had finished up her duty and exited the building, she pushed past the other policemen and investigators once more, easily stepping over the yellow caution tape that was now guarding the area of the crime scene. 

There was nothing important, nothing that seemed to stick out to her… not even her nose caught onto anything, but then again she could also blame the fact that her sense of smell had been overwhelmed, primarily by the sweet scent of that mermaid…

The sheriff began to depart, leaving the scene on foot. She walked away from the flashing lights and the radios, heading back to her apartment where she stayed in solitude. She approached the end of the block then turned, the light on the sidewalk blinking every now and then as gnats swarmed it. 

“... Wolf?”

Jasper paused, the scent of saltwater was back. And it was strong. She stopped abruptly, nostrils flaring. Her head turned, and she was surprised to see Lapis standing behind her. 

“You forgot something.”

Jasper gave a confused raise of her brow. She knew that she didn’t miss anything from the crime scene, and what on earth did this bar worker mean? If Lapis meant to try and tempt her into intimacy, she didn’t want it. … Did she? She had work to do here, and she wasn’t going to let her sights falter on the task on hand. “What?” She gruffed.

Lapis smiled faintly. She stepped closer to the sheriff, then pulled a ribbon from one of her pockets. It matched the one that she wore, but in red. “Here.” She handed it over, Jasper taking it reluctantly. 

“What is this for?” Jasper asked.

“You can figure it out,” Lapis promised. Already she was leaving, strolling off back to the bar from where Jasper had came.

Jasper rolled her eyes, studying the ribbon in her hand. It was the color of crimson, and didn’t seem like anything special. That was until she took a curious whiff of it, picking up on the metallic tang of blood. It shocked her, and she stopped sniffing. This ribbon… it had the same blood type as the victim in the bar, B positive. There was no way that this was tied to what had happened, was it? Jasper looked up in hopes that Lapis was still around, but found that she was long gone. All she had was the ribbon, blood on the ends, which matched the victim exactly. Her nose didn’t fail her, it knew more than she did. And if this ribbon had the same blood on it…

The same kind of ribbon around Lapis’ neck…

Jasper knew that she had a lead.


End file.
